A walk though Seton Hall basketball’s $55 million practice facility
A walk though Seton Hall basketball’s $55 million practice facility
Over the past two seasons, first at Seton Hall and then at St. John’s, Kadary Richmond was among the best point guards in college basketball.
Now the 6-foot-6 Brooklyn native will find out just how well his game – a fascinating mix of old-man resourcefulness and new-age versatility, with one glaring weakness – translates to the NBA. He agreed to a free-agent contract with the Washington Wizards moments after the NBA Draft ended, according to multiple media reports.
Richmond was instrumental in directing St. John’s to a 31-5 record and Big East title this past winter, averaging 12.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game while playing lockdown defense against multiple positions.
The season before that, in 2023-24, he led Seton Hall to a 25-12 record and the NIT title while averaging 15.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.2 steals. He was named first-team All-Big East.
The one thing holding Richmond back from being a surefire hit in the NBA is his outside shooting. He connected at a rate of 30.7 percent from 3-point range for his career, although that included a huge blip of 44.4 percent as a junior at the Hall in 2022-23. His free-throw shooting plummeted to .536 during his postgrad season at St. John’s after peaking at .807 as a senior with the Pirates.
“(Shooting) is the biggest thing holding him back,” said Daniel Marks, formerly the Milwaukee Bucks’ manager of prospect information, currently the chief program strategist for Howard University men’s basketball. “He’s super talented, impacts the game in every other way – other than shooting. He’s got great vision, he can play passing lanes, he can guard multiple positions, he’s an elite rebounder for his position. He’s got feel, size, strength, and can finish through contact. He’s not uber quick, but he knows how to get to his spots.”
Marks spent nine years with the Bucks as they built an NBA championship roster; he was a strong influence behind them drafting former Seton Hall standout Sandro Mamukelashvili, who is now holding his own with the San Antonio Spurs. He’s been watching Richmond, who turns 24 in August, since his freshman year at Syracuse.
“Teams are just going to guard him inside of 15 feet,” Marks said. “You can’t really play him off the ball, but still, as a point guard teams will go under him on pick-and-rolls and force him to take jump shots. The fact that from Syracuse to Seton Hall to St. John’s there was no tangible improvement on that issue, I think is a concern. Think about the coaches he had: Jim Boeheim, Kevin Willard, Sha (Shaheen Holloway) and Rick Pitino. Four high-level coaches, and none of them could fix the shot.”
Richmond doesn’t seem tailor-made for today’s NBA, with its focus on speed and range, but his basketball IQ, length and knack for winning should at least earn him a real audition. For what it’s worth, in St. John’s preseason triumph over Rutgers last October, he took over the game and outclassed Dylan Harper – who was just selected No. 2 overall by San Antonio – on both ends in crunch time.
“He’s a 6-6 point guard with great feel who impacts a game,” Marks said. “But for him to stick he’ll have to be really, really good at the things he’s already good at, or become some semblance of capable of shooting.”
If he makes it, Richmond will join two other former Pirates in the league – Mamukelashvili and Jared Rhoden, who was his teammate in 2021-22 and played 15 NBA games this past season on a two-way contract with Charlotte and then Toronto before suffering a shoulder injury.
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.